computer smartarses out there?

[headtheball]

If you need a SATA cable, I've got a stack of then kickin around. My new motherboard came with 10...

PM me an address, I'll drop one in the post.

[CaffeineJunkie]

you are aware that if you are just reinstalling the OS, you can usually just reinstall it, it probably won't need to be formatted [you can with windows XP and Suse Linux anyways]

and if you want dual boot, just set up both HDs with an OS on them and then it *should* give you the option on startup, if it doesn't then you need to edit your boot.ini file [although don't touch this file unless you know what you're looking for, it can screw up your entire boot process]

[Will]

it won't reinstall, i have several of the CD's and its just being a git really
i thought I would make the most of the situation and get dell to send me a new hard disk though (they are great for free stuff btw - despite the bad rep) then sort it out afterwards

[CaffeineJunkie]

fair dos

and yeh, dell aren't too bad, i think most of the bad rep comes from the personal accounts, i got mine on a business account and i've never had a problem with them, i even got an engineer come to my house the next day and replace the motherboard for me when it blew up :D

[Will]

I'm on personal account, after £60 of phone bills, i got upgraded to next business day on site repair, a new laptop exchange (+ slight upgrade) an all in one printer. and they actually do things now when i ring them up.
future advice to anyone:
if you hear an indian voice, put down the phone and redial until you reach the Irish department

[CaffeineJunkie]

if you hear an indian voice, put down the phone and redial until you reach the Irish department

lol yeh, although i can actually understand the indians better, can't hear a word through a thick irish accent lol

[Oli]

I had a bad experience with Dell when i blew the power supply of my sisters machine up. The conversation was something like this:

Dell: What's the nature of the problem?
Me: the power supply has gone, i need to order a new power supply.
Dell: Ok sir, we'll try and identify the problem.
Me: I know what the problem is, its the power supply, i need to order a new one.
Dell: What happens when you press the power button?
Me: Nothing, because the power supply is broken. None of the diagnostic LEDs light up either- because the power supply is broken.
Dell: What colour is the LED on the power button of the monitor?
Me: It's in standby mode because the computer is not on (because the power supply is broken!)
Dell: Can you open the computer up and tell me if there are any lights on the motherboard?
Me: No, because the power supply is broken.
Dell: What about if you hold the power button down?
Me: Nope, still not worky, power supply still dead.
Dell: Ok sir, it appears that the power supply in your machine is broken, we can sort you out with another one.

Then i got put through to another department, who, surprise surprise couldn't help because they weren't the correct department. Got put through to another department who told me that because the machine is now out of the Dell product range, they don't supply the parts anymore, and i'd have to order through the 3rd party supplier.
They gave me a number, which was wrong so I had to go online to get the correct one. By this time I was so fed up with it all (30mins on't phone), that I couldn't face calling the 3rd party company, but got a whinging from my dad, so I had to call them. The conversation was something like:

Them: Good afternoon, how can I help?
Me: I'd like to order a replacement power supply for my Dell #modelnumber# please.
Them: Ok sir, that's £not_that_much, would you like anything else?

So angry!! How can Dell be such a pain in the arse, yet I was off the phone to the other company in less than two mins?!

Conclusion: Dell are rubbish :p

[CaffeineJunkie]

I had a bad experience with Dell when i blew the power supply of my sisters machine up. The conversation was something like this:

Dell: What's the nature of the problem?
Me: the power supply has gone, i need to order a new power supply.
Dell: Ok sir, we'll try and identify the problem.
Me: I know what the problem is, its the power supply, i need to order a new one.
Dell: What happens when you press the power button?
Me: Nothing, because the power supply is broken. None of the diagnostic LEDs light up either- because the power supply is broken.
Dell: What colour is the LED on the power button of the monitor?
Me: It's in standby mode because the computer is not on (because the power supply is broken!)
Dell: Can you open the computer up and tell me if there are any lights on the motherboard?
Me: No, because the power supply is broken.
Dell: What about if you hold the power button down?
Me: Nope, still not worky, power supply still dead.
Dell: Ok sir, it appears that the power supply in your machine is broken, we can sort you out with another one.

Then i got put through to another department, who, surprise surprise couldn't help because they weren't the correct department. Got put through to another department who told me that because the machine is now out of the Dell product range, they don't supply the parts anymore, and i'd have to order through the 3rd party supplier.
They gave me a number, which was wrong so I had to go online to get the correct one. By this time I was so fed up with it all (30mins on't phone), that I couldn't face calling the 3rd party company, but got a whinging from my dad, so I had to call them. The conversation was something like:

Them: Good afternoon, how can I help?
Me: I'd like to order a replacement power supply for my Dell #modelnumber# please.
Them: Ok sir, that's £not_that_much, would you like anything else?

So angry!! How can Dell be such a pain in the arse, yet I was off the phone to the other company in less than two mins?!

Conclusion: Dell are rubbish :p

you'll probably find that the dell operators have a series of screens prompting them to ask certain questions, and it probably won't let them order a new part, or tell you if it's still in the range unless you answer the questions


.... incidentally, the software is probably written by microsoft .... ahem....

:D

[Will]

you spent 30 mins on the phone?
I spent 600  :?